Tar Heels Head To Miami For Matchup With Hot Hurricanes – UNC Athletics

GAME 17

• Two of the top teams in the ACC square off when the Tar Heels travel to Coral Gables, Fla., on Tuesday to play the Miami Hurricanes.

• Tip time is 7:01 p.m. The game will be broadcast on the ACC Network.

• Carolina is 12-4, 4-1 in the ACC, tied with Duke in second place, one-half game behind the Hurricanes, who are 13-4, 5-1.

• The Tar Heels are 24th in KenPom’s overall rankings. The Tar Heels are 13th in the country in offensive efficiency (116.2) and 21st in effective field goal percentage (55.0%). UNC is on pace to shoot its highest effective field goal percentage since shooting 56.0% and finishing No. 4 in the country in that statistic in 2004-05. 

• The Tar Heels rank sixth in the country in three-point percentage, 23rd in field goal percentage and 43rd in free throw percentage.

• Carolina defeated Georgia Tech, 88-65, on Saturday to improve to 9-0 at home this season. Armando Bacot scored a career-high 29 points for the second straight game, RJ Davis had 21 points and six assists and the Tar Heels held Michael Devoe, the ACC’s top scorer entering the game, to only two points in the UNC victory. 

• Armando Bacot has won ACC Player-of-the-Week honors each of the last two weeks. Bacot won for Jan. 3-9 for his play against Virginia and Notre Dame (game highs with 21 points and 17 rebounds) and Jan. 10-16 for his 29 points and 12 rebounds vs. Georgia Tech. 

• Bacot is the first Tar Heel to win multiple ACC Player-of-the-Week honors in the same season since Luke Maye in 2018-19. He is the first Tar Heel to win in consecutive weeks since Joel Berry II in January 2017.

• Over the last seven games Bacot has scored 149 points, grabbed 94 rebounds and shot 65.6% from the floor. He’s the only Tar Heel ever to do that in any seven-game stretch. He is averaging 21.3 points and 13.4 rebounds over those seven games.

• Bacot has double-doubles in each of the last seven games, the longest streak by a Tar Heel since John Henson had nine consecutive in 2010-11. Bacot’s seven-game streak is the eighth-longest by a Tar Heel (Mitch Kupchak and Sean May are tied for sixth at eight straight).

• Bacot had 29 points and 22 rebounds against Virginia on January 8 and 29 points and a dozen boards vs. Georgia Tech a week later. He is just the fourth Tar Heel to ever have at least 29 points and 12 rebounds in consecutive games – joining Lennie Rosenbluth, Billy Cunningham and Charlie Scott, who last accomplished that in 1970.

• Bacot is second in the country in double-doubles (12), fifth in rebounding (11.3 per game) and sixth in field goal percentage (.640).

• Bacot and Arkansas State’s Norchad Omier are the only players in the top six in the country in those three categories.

• Bacot leads the ACC in double-doubles, field goal shooting and rebounding. The last player to lead the ACC in those three categories in the same season was Duke’s Marvin Bagley in 2018. No Tar Heel has ever led the league in those categories in the same season.

• Bacot leads the ACC in conference play in scoring (22.4), rebounding (15.0), field goal percentage (.657) and double-doubles (5).

• Bacot is leading Carolina in scoring (16.6), rebounding, field goal percentage and blocks (23). He also led UNC in those categories last season. No Tar Heel has ever led those four categories in consecutive seasons.

• Bacot’s 11.3 rebounds per game are on pace for the highest average by a Tar Heel since Mitch Kupchak grabbed 11.3 per game in 1975-76.

SCHEDULE UPDATE

• Carolina’s December 29 home game against Virginia Tech was postponed due to Covid protocols in the Hokie program. That game has been rescheduled for Monday, January 24, at 8 p.m., in the Smith Center.

• UNC’s game at Louisville was moved back a day from January 31 to February 1.

UNC-MIAMI ALL-TIME

• Carolina is 26-8 against the Hurricanes, including 19-7 since Miami joined ACC prior to the 2004-05 season.

• The Tar Heels are 10-3 on the road, including 8-3 in the Watsco Center.

• UNC has won five in a row against Miami and eight of the last 10.

• The Tar Heels have won the last two games in Coral Gables on 1/19/2019 and 1/5/21. Miami’s last home win over the Tar Heels was by 15 points in UNC’s 2017 national title season.

• The teams played once last season. Senior guard Andrew Platek hit the game-winning basket with 3.8 seconds to play to give Carolina a 67-65 victory at the Watsco Center.

• Carolina made nine three-pointers and shot 45 percent from three-point range (9 of 20), while only making 29.3 percent from two-point range (12 of 41).

• UNC won despite committing 20 turnovers and shot 34.4% from the floor.

• Leaky Black had career highs in field goals (6), three-pointers (4 for 4) and points (16).

• Day’Ron Sharpe, now a rookie center with the Brooklyn Nets, had 16 rebounds.

• Kerwin Walton made three three-pointers, scored 13 points and had four assists.

SCORING

• The Tar Heels scored 88 points at home against Georgia Tech and are averaging 81.0 in five conference games this season.

• Carolina is second to Miami (81.8 ppg) in scoring in league play.

• The Tar Heels lead the ACC in scoring margin in conference games (+15.8). Miami is fourth (+3.8).

FIELD GOAL SHOOTING

• Carolina is second in the ACC and 23rd in the country in field goal percentage at .482, which is on pace for its best shooting performance since 2015-16 (also 48.2%).

• In its first five ACC games the Tar Heels are shooting a league-best 50.5% from the floor. Carolina and Miami (.500) are the only two teams shooting 50% in conference play thus far this season.

• Carolina is 6-0 when shooting at least 50% from the floor this season (UNC was 220-9 when shooting 50% under Roy Williams).

• The Tar Heels have shot 50% or better from the floor in the second half in eight of the last 10 games and 10 times in 16 games this season. The Tar Heels have shot 50% or better four times in the first half this season, including the previous game against Georgia Tech.

• Carolina is shooting 51.9% from the floor in the second half and holding its opponents to 44.6%. The opponents are shooting just 39.0% in the second half in Carolina’s 12 victories.

• Purdue, Tennessee, Kentucky and Notre Dame averaged 89.5 points, shot 53% from the floor, 44.9% from three and had 84 assists and 35 turnovers in their wins over UNC. 

• Carolina is 21st nationally in effective field goal percentage (which takes into account the added value of three-point shooting). The Tar Heels’ effective FG percentage is 55.0, an improvement from 46.4% in 2019-20 and 48.3% in 2020-21.

• By comparison, Carolina’s effective FG percentage in its most recent NCAA championship seasons were 51.7% in 2016-17, 52.8% in 2008-09 and 56.0% in 2004-05.

• Bacot’s ACC-leading field goal percentage of .640 is on pace to be the highest by a Tar Heel since Brandan Wright shot 64.6% in 2006-07.

FREE THROWS

• Carolina has made 30 more free throws than its opponents have attempted (221 made by UNC vs. 191 attempted by the opponents). 

• The Tar Heels are shooting 75.9% from the line, their best percentage since 1984-85, when they converted 76.1%.

• Carolina is on pace for its third-highest free throw percentage. The Tar Heels shot 78.3% in 1983-84 and 76.1% in 1984-85.

• Caleb Love leads UNC at the stripe this season at 83.3%. The sophomore guard has made 108 of 132 free throws as a Tar Heel. He has the 16th-highest percentage (.818) in UNC history.

• RJ Davis is shooting 81.6% from the line in his two seasons. He is 93 for 114 (needs seven more makes to qualify for the UNC list).

• Carolina has made 81.4% of its free throw attempts in its four losses.

DEFENSE

• UNC has held its opponents to 65 or fewer points in each of its last nine victories. It’s the first time UNC has held the opponents under 70 points in nine consecutive wins since 2006-07, when it did that in 15 straight wins.

• Carolina has held the opposition to 528 combined points in its last nine victories. Those are the fewest points allowed over nine consecutive wins since the 2006-07 season. UNC allowed 506 points in wins from December 19 to January 20 that season.

• Carolina has won four times this season when it allowed fewer than 60 points (53 by UNC Asheville, 51 by Michigan, 50 by App State and 58 by Virginia).

CALEB’S THREES

• Caleb Love has made 37 three-pointers in the first 16 games. Last year, Love finished his freshman season with 34 threes in 29 games. He was 34 for 128 last year. This year, Love has 37 threes in 82 tries. 

• Love has improved his three-point percentage from 26.6% as a freshman to 45.1% this season. He is on pace to shoot the sixth-highest percentage in a season by a Tar Heel.

• Love is 16 for 31 from three over the last five games.

BACOT DOUBLING DOWN

• Armando Bacot is the third Tar Heel to start a season with 12 double-doubles in the first 16 games but is the first to do in nearly 60 seasons. 

• The only others were Doug Moe in 1960-61 (14 in 16 games), Billy Cunningham in 1962-63 (15 of 16) and Cunningham again in 1963-64 (all 16). 

• Bacot leads the ACC and is second in the nation in double-doubles. Fardaws Aimaq of Utah Valley has 15 and Oscar Tshiebwe of Kentucky is tied with Bacot with 12.

• Bacot has 30 double-doubles in 77 games over three seasons as a Tar Heel. His double-double rate (39.0%) is the 10th highest by a Tar Heel and the fourth highest in the last 50 years.

Double-Doubles Games Pct.

Billy Cunningham, 1962-65 60 69 .870

Lennie Rosenbluth*, 1954-57 39 76 .513

Antawn Jamison, 1995-98 51 104 .490

Doug Moe, 1958-61 29 60 .483

Rusty Clark, 1966-69 43 91 .473

Larry Miller, 1965-68 42 91 .462

Robert McAdoo, 1971-72 14 31 .452

Pete Brennan*, 1955-58 35 81 .432

Sean May, 2002-05 33 77 .429

Armando Bacot, 2019-active 30 77 .390

Bobby Jones, 1971-74 35 92 .380

Mitch Kupchak, 1972-76 44 119 .370

* Rosenbluth and Brennan played numerous games where their rebound totals are unknown

 

MORE SCORING

• Five Tar Heels have scored 20 or more points in a game this season. Armando Bacot has scored 20 or more seven times, Caleb Love has five 22-point games, RJ Davis and Dawson Garcia have three 20-point games and Brady Manek has two.

• Tar Heels have scored 20 or more points 20 times in 16 games, including five games in which two players scored 20 or more (Loyola, Brown, Charleston, Elon and home vs. Georgia Tech). Last season, UNC had only seven 20-point performances in 29 games. Freshman Day’Ron Sharpe became the first Tar Heel to score 20 or more when he had 25 against Notre Dame in the season’s 10th game. UNC did not have any games last season when two players scored 20 or more points.

• This is the 11th Tar Heel team to have five players score 20 points at least twice: 1960, 1969, 1971, 1973, 1989, 2000, 2005, 2009, 2016, 2018 and 2022. Five of the other 10 teams to accomplish that played in Final Fours.

• Bacot has scored 20 or more points seven times this season. He did that five times in his first two seasons combined.

• Love has scored 22 points five times – against Loyola Maryland, Charleston, Michigan, Elon and Boston College. The sophomore scored 20 or more twice in 29 games last season.

• Carolina is 7-0 when Love scores 20 or more and 9-1 when he makes 50% of his field goal attempts (4-0 last season and 5-1 in 2021-22).

• The Notre Dame game on January 5 was the first time in two seasons UNC lost when Love made 50% of his field goal attempts.

DIALING LONG-DISTANCE

• The Tar Heels are shooting 39.8% from three, best in ACC and sixth in the country. 

• Carolina has shot 40% or higher in five previous seasons but not since winning the national championship in 2004-05, when it made 40.3% from three-point range. 

• Three Tar Heels are shooting better than 40% from three – Caleb Love (45.1%), Dawson Garcia (44.0%) and RJ Davis (43.9%).

• Carolina is shooting 43.8% from three in ACC games, led by Caleb Love, who is 17 for 31 in conference play (.534), and RJ Davis (13 for 26), who are both making at least half their attempts in league action. Brady Manek is also converting 40.6% in ACC games.

• Carolina makes 8.1 threes per game, on pace for the fifth-highest average in UNC history.

• The Tar Heels made 41.3% of their threes in their 12 wins compared to 35.6% in the four losses. The opponents have more than a 16-point swing, converting 44.9% in their four wins over Carolina and just 28.4% in the 12 losses.

UNC Three-Pointers Per Game, Last 10 Years

2021-22 8.13

2020-21 5.59

2019-20 5.48

2018-19 (UNC record) 8.67

2017-18 8.24

2016-17 7.08

2015-16 5.60

2014-15 4.84

2013-14 4.29

2012-13 7.56

UNC Three-Pointers Per Game, All-Time

2018-19 8.67

2002-03 8.29

1982-83 (experimental distance) 8.25

2017-18 8.24

2021-22 8.13

STILL HITTING THE BOARDS

• The Tar Heels lead the ACC and are ninth in the country in rebound margin at plus 9.1 per game. UNC also leads the league in rebounds per game (39.9). 

• Carolina has led the ACC in rebound margin in each of the previous six seasons and in 13 of 18 seasons under Roy Williams.

• UNC has won the battle of the boards 14 times in 16 games this season. The Tar Heels are 12-2 when out-rebounding their opponents and 0-2 when getting out-rebounded (Tennessee and Kentucky).

• Under Roy Williams the Tar Heels won 82.3% of the games they out-rebounded their opponents. The Tar Heels were victorious in only 46.8% of the games they were out-rebounded under Williams.

PLUS/MINUS LEADERS

• Bacot and Leaky Black lead UNC in plus/minus at plus 198 and plus 179, respectively. Bacot and Black have both led UNC in plus/minus five times.

• Love’s plus 34 at Boston College is the highest by a Tar Heel this season.

• Last season Bacot led the team with a plus 121.

THIRD ALL-TIME IN WINS

• The win at Georgia Tech on December 5 was No. 2,300 in Carolina history. UNC is the third team in college basketball history with 2,300 wins (with Kentucky and Kansas).

• The Tar Heels enter the Miami game with 2,306 wins.

SMITH CENTER

• Carolina is 445-81 all-time in the Dean E. Smith Center.

• The Tar Heels are 227-63 in the Smith Center in ACC play and 394-95 at home in ACC play (in three home venues).

HUBERT

• Hubert Davis named Carolina’s 20th head coach, and first Black head coach, on April 5, 2021.

• Davis is the fourth Tar Heel head coach who also played at UNC, joining Reynolds Cuthbertson, Monk McDonald and Matt Doherty.

• Davis played for Dean Smith from 1988-92, was selected by the New York Knicks in the first round of the NBA Draft and played a dozen seasons in the NBA. He was a college basketball analyst at ESPN for seven years and an assistant coach on Roy Williams’ Tar Heel staff from 2012-21.

SHAVER JOINS ROSTER

• Will Shaver signed with UNC in November and has joined the team this semester, although he will not play this season.

• The Birmingham, Ala., native began practicing with the team in January.

• Shaver led Oak Mountain High School to back-to-back appearances in the state finals and the 2021 Class 7A title. He averaged 14.3 points and 7.7 rebounds and was named second-team all-state.

TAR HEEL STAFF

• Head coach Hubert Davis is a Tar Heel alum, and so are each of his assistant coaches and members of the basketball staff.

• Assistant coaches Brad Frederick (1996-99), Jeff Lebo (1985-89) and Sean May (2002-05), Director of Recruiting Pat Sullivan (1990-93, 1994-95) and Director of Team and Player Development Jackie Manuel (2001-05) all played for the Tar Heels. Director of Operations Eric Hoots has been on staff for 18 seasons.

• Frederick played on Final Four teams that won ACC championships in 1997 and 1998.

• Lebo is a 20-year head coaching veteran who set 10 UNC records in his playing career.

• May was the Most Outstanding Player of the 2005 NCAA Final Four, scoring 26 points in the national championship game vs. Illinois.

• Manuel was twice named Carolina’s defensive player of the year and was a starter on the 2005 NCAA champions.

• Sullivan was a key contributor on the 1993 national champions and is one of seven Tar Heels who have played in three Final Fours.

• Davis, Lebo, May and Frederick combined to score 4,441 points as Tar Heels. Syracuse is the only school whose coaches scored more points at their alma mater than UNC (Gerry McNamara, Adrian Autry, Allen Griffin and Jim Boeheim scored 5,189 for the Orange).

PRO HEELS

NBA

Cole Anthony, Orlando

Harrison Barnes, Sacramento

Tony Bradley, Chicago

Reggie Bullock, Dallas

Ed Davis, Cleveland

Wayne Ellington, Los Angeles Lakers

Danny Green, Philadelphia

Justin Jackson, Phoenix

Cameron Johnson, Phoenix

Nassir Little, Portland

Theo Pinson, Dallas

Day’Ron Sharpe, New Jersey

Coby White, Chicago

International source: TarHeelInternational.com

Nate Britt, Yoast United, The Netherlands

Isaiah Hicks, Seoul Samsung Thunders, South Korea

Desmond Hubert, Al Arabi, Kuwait

Brice Johnson, Toyama Grouses, Japan

Christian Keeling, BC Rustavi, Georgia

Justin Knox, Neo-Phoenix, Japan

Ty Lawson, US Monastir, Tunisia

Sterling Manley, Sichuan Blue Whales, China

Luke Maye, BAXI Manresa, Spain

James Michael McAdoo, Hitachi Sun Rockers, Japan

Kennedy Meeks, Cholet Basket, France

Marcus Paige, Orleans Loiret, France

Justin Pierce, VfL Kircheim Knights, Germany

Reyshawn Terry, Plateros de Fresnillo, Mexico

Deon Thompson, Leones des Ponce, Puerto Rico

J.P. Tokoto, Hapoel Tel Aviv, Israel

Jawad Williams, Yamagata Wyverns, Japan

Kenny Williams, Kolossos Rhodes, Greece